International press

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa began swearing in its newly elected parliament on Wednesday, excluding President Cyril Ramaphosa's influential deputy David Mabuza, who put off taking up his seat to address accusations he had brought the ruling party into disrepute.

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - When Gaelle Asheri first started playing soccer in the dirt streets near her home in Cameroon's capital, she was the only girl on the informal neighbourhood teams which used stones for goal posts and kept score by chalking results on a wall.

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's main protest group called on Tuesday for a general strike, saying two late-night negotiation sessions with the military had failed to reach a deal on how to lead the country after the overthrow of former president Omar al-Bashir.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Mozambique's former finance minister Manuel Chang will be extradited to his home country where he is wanted on charges related to a $2 billion debt scandal, South Africa's Justice Minister Michael Masutha said on Tuesday.

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's deputy president, David Mabuza, will not be sworn in as a lawmaker on Wednesday after requesting a postponement to address allegations he brought the ruling African National Congress (ANC) into disrepute, president Cyril Ramaphosa said.

A former colonel who served decades ago in the Somali National Army was convicted Tuesday in a U.S. court of being responsible for the torture of a teenager in 1987.
Yusuf Abdi Ali, who now lives in Alexandria, Virginia, served under Dictator Siad Barre.

Officials in Malawi are counting ballots in Tuesday's poll for president, members of parliament, and local councilors. No major problems were reported as Malawians voted in one of the nation's most unpredictable races for president.

Despite Somalia’s persistent security threats, recurrent political crises, capacity constraints and the difficulties in navigating political obstacles to its reform agenda, the Horn of Africa country remains on a “positive trajectory,” the UN Security Council was told on Wednesday.

Malawians voted for president, members of parliament, and local councilors Tuesday. About 7 million people were expected to cast ballots in 193 constituencies.
Hundreds of people lined up to vote at Goliati polling station in southern Malawi Tuesday morning.

This Friday, Kenya's High Court is set to rule on a case challenging colonial-era laws that criminalize homosexuality. The petitioners want the court to declare those laws unconstitutional in hopes that will make life easier for the country's gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

The top United Nations diplomat for Libya warned Tuesday that the country is on the verge of descending into a full-scale civil war, as a warlord general from the east continues to try to capture the capital from the internationally-recognized government.

A panel of World Health Organization experts says strategies must be strengthened to combat the worsening Ebola epidemic in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The WHO's latest report counted 1,738 cases of Ebola in Congo, including 1,218 deaths.

The Zimbabwe government recently announced long power cuts due to low levels of water in Kariba dam on the border with Zambia – the country’s main hydropower source.
Collins Chigwagwa runs a small barbershop in a middle class suburb in Harare.

Actress Priyanka Chopra is in Ethiopia to promote access to education for refugee children.
Chopra is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's agency. She spoke with The Associated Press after visiting a school for refugees from neighboring Sudan.